By
Yarleen Hernandez
21-Sep-14
Death completely consumed Jenna Marotta after her father, brother, and dear friend passed away, one after the other.
“I lost my brother, Michael Bruzgis,” she said. “He passed away six months after my father and it was very hard to lose him.”
A few months later, she lost a close friend.
“He was the doorman at The Bitter End for many years,” she said. “When he passed in August of last year, I was very sad.”
Completely
distraught, Weehawken resident Marotta harnessed her pain and channeled
it into her music. She began recording a CD which she released this
past May.
Marotta’s losses combined with the 9/11 anniversary
served as inspiration for her song “Never Forget.” The pain and sorrow
in her voice are easily identifiable on the track.
“They had a
benefit for him and when I performed, it wasn’t quite finished yet,” she
said. “Then four days later was 9/11 and everything on the news was
‘never forget’ and it came to me. It became about them. It became about
the wives and the families that they lost on 9/11.”
A natural artist
Marotta’s
passion for music and performance was always a constant in her life.
From an early age, her mom put her in numerous activities including
piano and dancing. She was a self-proclaimed natural.
“I excelled at all of them,” she said. “It was clear from the start that I was supposed to be something.”
Marotta
just didn’t quite know what that “something” was yet though she knew
she’d never give up until she figured it out. Marotta’s journey to
self-discovery would be filled with setbacks, struggles and pain but
she’d never allow any of it to deter her.
“I had won a
scholarship for Future Teachers of America N.J. because I was going to
become a teacher,” said Marotta. “When I started college, it was ‘do the
safe thing’.”
Originally
a math education major at the University of Tampa, Marotta quickly
realized her freshman year that music was her passion and it was time to
pursue it. “I’d recently found out that my school had a brand new major
that year of musical theater,” she said. “Needless to say I was
itching. The music bug was there. I got to the end of the semester in
math education and I went up to the director of the department and I was
like, ‘How can I audition for the musical theater department’.”
Marotta
graduated from the University of Tampa in 2006 with a Bachelors Degree
in Performing Arts. Before finally settling in Weehawken, Marotta lived
in Chicago where she had a taste of fame.
A chance of a lifetime: The Apollo Theater
“I
was doing my thing in Chicago and a good friend of mine brought me to
this tour show at this casino in Indiana, and I got booed off faster
than you could tell,” said Marotta. “A year later the tour show came out
again and I went back (to audition) and I did it the right way. The
Apollo is all about class and style. The Apollo has this rich history.
When you go there it’s an honor and a privilege.”
Marotta was
then chosen to participate on the national TV show Amateur Night on
Showtime at the Apollo in New York City where she received a standing
ovation for her cover of Gladys Knight’s ‘Neither One of Us’.
After that, she knew that this is where she needed to be make her dreams come true.
“When
I flew up here to do the Apollo, my whole idea changed,” said Marotta.
“My friends were like, ‘Come to Hoboken, you’ll love it’ and that’s what
I did. I came and I did more for music than I had in 10 years and I was
like ‘okay this is the place’.”
Born in Philadelphia and raised
in Palmyra, N.J., Marotta quickly fell in love with Weehawken’s charm
and proximity to the capital of the world. “[Palmyra] is a small town
about 1.6 square miles and maybe 8,000 people, so it’s very similar to
Weehawken if you just kinda make it a little bit grander, because it’s
obviously [close to] New York,” she said.
“I think that’s why I
wound up settling here in Hudson County, Weehawken, specifically,
because it kinda just felt like home. I live half a block from the bus
now,” she said. “Weehawken has an amazing school system so I wouldn’t
mind raising my children there. I’d be happy to do that. It’s a really
great town.”
The birth of ‘Gypsy’
“I started
working in the city and it took me a long time before I could even play
in front of people,” she said. “I only had four songs to start and I
just kept at it and kept at it and that’s me in a nutshell. I haven’t
quit yet and I’m not gonna.”
Marotta realized that she needed a full-length album in order to garner the success and recognition she always craved.
”It
was about three years ago when I finally decided I needed an album,”
she said. “This is a business for me. Yes, it’s my love, it’s my passion
but you should do that as your business and every business has a
product that they’re selling. I didn’t have a product.”
Marotta
tried to get funded through a Kickstarter campaign but was not able to
raise the $5,000 she budgeted for six to eight songs.
“With
Kickstarter, if you don’t make the full amount in pledges they don’t
give you anything,” she said. “I wasn’t successful in my campaign, and
then a month later my father passed away. It was obvious to me that it
wasn’t meant to be at that time.”
A year later, Marotta was
ready to begin recording the songs she’d worked on during her time of
healing and growth. “I wanted it to be as ready for radio and as good as
it could get doing it on my own,” she said. “In three days we knocked
out nine songs. I wanted guys that could nail it and that’s what they
did. I tried to release it really fast that year but I didn’t have the
money to do a CD and I did an online release.”
Marotta’s CD was
released on May 31, and features “Never Forget” in addition to “Gypsy”
and “Diesel Woman,” songs that represent her free spirit. Marotta’s
sound is self-described as adult contemporary pop rock with noticeable
similarities to Janis Joplin, Alanis Morissette and Lisa Loeb.
“It’s
not for the teeny boppers,” said Marotta. “The themes of my songs are a
little bit more mature. When you hit your 20s and 30s, people
appreciate the fact that somebody else has already lived through some of
what they’re living through.”
Marotta currently performs at
Manhattan venues such as Gavin Degraw’s recently-closed bar National
Underground, the West Village’s Caffe Vivaldi, and The Bitter End, her
favorite venue.
“I’ve been performing at The Bitter End for
about five years now,” she said. “It’s where all the greats got started.
I go there and it’s my home. We’re like family there.”
Marotta’s ultimate goal is to get picked up by a major record label but she hopes it won’t compromise her musical integrity.
“I
wouldn’t want to have it hinder me but I’d like to be part of a major
record label,” she said. “I’d just like to have commercial music that
deserves mass-marketing. I have the talent and product so I’d really
like to get it out there; to be one of the big ones.”
Despite
the adversity she’s faced, her faith has never faltered and she hopes
her father would be proud of what she’s accomplished.
‘I’m very faithful’
“I
found strength in prayer and faith,” she said. “My father was a very
believing man. He loved God. I just looked to faith for guidance to make
him proud. My father told me once ‘Don’t think about the bad memories.
Just think about the good things’.”
When Marotta isn’t
performing or writing music, she’s working as a real estate agent for
Re/Max, which she feels comes quite naturally to her.
Marotta
was recently scheduled to appear on Thursday, Aug. 21 at Rapture Lounge
in Astoria, Queens, where she’ll be celebrating her birthday. She is on
Twitter @jeanaeluv and her website is www.jennamarottamusic.com.
Marotta
knows firsthand that self-reflection, perseverance and faith are key to
making dreams a reality, and giving up is not an option.
“People
have to find the path that’s right for them,” she said. “Be honest with
yourself then go get it. Never give up. Appreciate every blessing big
and small and follow the path that was meant for you.”
